Sabotage did not involve loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Bitterness would be kept to a minimum and, if the policy bore fruit, democratic government could become a reality.

As an attorney, I could be rather flamboyant in court. I did not act as though I were a black man in a white man's court, but as if everyone else - white and black - was a guest in my court. When trying a case, I often made sweeping gestures and used high-flown language.

From the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.

I have been influenced in my thinking by both west and east.

I realized quickly what Mandela and Tambo meant to ordinary Africans. It was a place where they could come and find a sympathetic ear and a competent ally, a place where they would not be either turned away or cheated, a place where they might actually feel proud to be represented by men of their own skin color.

Prison life, fortunately, I spent a lot of years, about 18 years with other prisoners, and, as I say, they enrich your soul.

You know, you can only lead them from behind.

Whatever position I occupied, it was the result of colleagues - of my comrades in the movement - who had decided in their wisdom to use me for the purpose of focusing the attention of the country and the international community on me.

When I came to Johannesburg from the countryside, I knew nobody, but many strangers were very kind to me. I then was dragged into politics, and then, subsequently, I become a lawyer.

Leaders in all spheres who are living with HIV should be encouraged, not coerced, to lead by example and disclose their HIV status.

The titanic effort that has brought liberation to South Africa, and ensured the total liberation of Africa, constitutes an act of redemption for the black people of the world.

I really wanted to retire and rest and spend more time with my children, my grandchildren and of course with my wife.

I cannot say for certain if there is such a thing as love at first sight, but I do know that the moment I first glimpse Winnie Nomzamo, I knew that I wanted to have her as my wife.

I cannot conceive of Israel withdrawing if Arab states do not recognize Israel, within secure borders.

My son has died of AIDS.

Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you, and you had the opportunity, also, of examining your past.

I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world.

I made a mistake by being ejected from the presidency. Next time, I will choose a Cabinet which will allow me to be life President.

There are so many men and women who hold no distinctive position but whose contribution towards the development of society has been enormous.

The names of Dingane and Bambata, Hintsa and Makana, Squngthi and Dalasile, Moshoeshoe and Sekhukhuni, were praised as the glory of the entire African nation. I hoped then that life might offer me the opportunity to serve my people and make my own humble contribution to their freedom struggle.

I would wear the blue overalls of the fieldworker and often wore round, rimless glasses known as Mazzawati teaglasses. I had a car, and I wore a chauffeur's cap with my overalls. The pose of chauffeur was convenient because I could travel under the pretext of driving my master's car.

Even if you have a terminal disease, you don't have to sit down and more. Enjoy life and challenge the illness that you have.

I started to make a study of the art of war and revolution and, whilst abroad, underwent a course in military training. If there was to be guerrilla warfare, I wanted to be able to stand and fight with my people and to share the hazards of war with them.

I have retired, but if there's anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do. 

There is nothing I fear more than waking up without a program that will help me bring a little happiness to those with no resources, those who are poor, illiterate, and ridden with terminal disease.

The education I received was a British education, in which British ideas, British culture, British institutions, are automatically assumed to be superior. There was no such thing as African culture.

Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.

Our single most important challenge is therefore to help establish a social order in which the freedom of the individual will truly mean the freedom of the individual.

Nonviolence is a good policy when the conditions permit.

I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.